[hooliganj]

Originally Posted by maxthelostboy

Suikoden 2 a tale of friendship, betrayel sacrafice and a classic all its own!

Ah! Someone beat me to it!

Suikoden II was the best story ever told in a video game, bar none. For anybody out there who played 3 as their first Suikoden game, go back and find the older ones. 3 was a step forward in graphics, but two steps back in storytelling.

Spoiler:

Joey assassinating the mayor and Nanami getting shot with the arrow were both just as bad, if not more surprising, than the encounter between Sephiroth and Aeris. And I've never felt prouder of my RPG characters than when they took out the evil Prince Luca Blight, after a series of battles both strategic and standard, and even a one-on-one duel with the hero. Good times.

Chrono Trigger gets honorable mention as the best story on a cartridge, and it has a worthy sequal, although the story to Chrono Cross is convoluted enough to make it hard to follow sometimes. Earthbound was a great game, but hard to take seriously. :P

For all the Final Fantasy debate going on, VI had the most interesting characters, and VII was probably the most original story in the series, but I don't think the series has managed to outdo itself plot-wise since IV (FF2 in the US). Yes, the graphics are old, but the twists in the story are still incredibly cool. And Kain is still the most badass 16-bit sprite ever.